WataMote
is a manga series from Japan. It is written and illustrated by Nico Tanigawa, which is a pseudonym for two mangaka's, and began serialization on Square Enix's Gangan Comics Online service on August 4, 2011. In North America, it is licensed by Yen Press. On July 8, 2013, Silver Link's television anime adaptation began airing. Since the series' English title is too long to read, it can be shortened into '''WataMote' (ワタモテ). Plot 15-year-old entering high school student Tomoko Kuroki reads the definition of a "mojo" (もじょ ・ 喪女): a "creepy" or "unpopular girl" which appears to describe her. Tomoko believes she will be popular in high school since she is so successful in otome games. When she high school, she realizes the opposite is true as she finds herself a loner and suffering from severe social anxiety. Tomoko finds herself awkward, unable to talk to even her teachers, as well as lacking a filter to prevent her from saying what immediately comes to her mind which usually proves embarrassing. The series follows her as she gradually begins to make acquaintances as she matures through high school. Characters Kuroki Family *Tomoko Kuroki - The aforementioned protagonist of the manga. She is awkward, suffering from social anxieties, and often lacks empathy. Throughout the manga she slowly little by little acquires social skills and empathy while stumbling through high school *Tomoki Kuroki - Tomoko's younger and more socially adjusted brother. As a young teen he finds his awkward older sister irritating. *Kiko Satozaki - Known primarily by her nickname "Kii," she is Tomoko's younger cousin. At the beginning of the manga Kii looks up to Tomoko and readily believes the lies Tomoko feeds her. However, as Kii finds out more and more Tomoko's true nature her admiration turns to pity. *Tomoko's Mother - The only parent of Tomoko's consistently shown in the manga and anime. She occasionally catches Tomoko up to some weird antics, much to the chagrin of the both. *Tomoko's Father - While rarely appearing, he does appear in one of the more infamous scenes of the manga and anime. He is a "salaryman." Tomoko's Main Social Circle *Yū Naruse - During the early chapters of the manga Yū was Tomoko's only friend thought she does not attend her high school. Yū and Tomoko have known one another from middle school. Unlike Tomoko, Yū has grown to be quite the attractive and popular. She is quite ditzy and forgiving of Tomoko's weird behavior. *Kotomi Komiyama - Tomoko's foil and friend-enemy from middle school. They do not learn that they attend the same high school until some time into the manga. Prior to the events of the manga when they were still in middle school, Tomoko engendered the enmity of Kotomi through her jealousy of any attention from Yū. During that time, Kotomi developed a crush on Tomoki; however, Tomoko embarrasses her in front of her brother. Since that time they maintain a smoldering dislike to hatred; however, Yū tries to bring them together. *Megumi Imae - A friendly, nice girl one grade above Tomoko. She often goes out of her way to make sure Tomoko is happy. She is a part of the student council and is seemingly quite popular around the school. *Hina Nemoto - A popular girl who curiously wishes to be Tomoko's friend while running an imaginary competition with her. Hina secretly loves anime but chose to hide this and her desire to become a voice actress from other friends. When she finally reveals her career intentions, she still tries to avoid the subject. *Yuri Tamura - A seemingly normal girl who befriends Tomoko on the school field trip to Kyōto. She is good friends with Mako Tanaka. Like Tomoko, Yuri displays suffers from social anxieties where she pushes away people and tests friends to see if they will continue to be her friends. Over the chapters, she appears satisfied with Tomoko but becomes guarded when Tomoko appears to have other friends. *Mako Tanaka - A mutual friend of Tomoko's. Mako and Tomoko met through Yuri and while Mako was not ready to be friends with Tomoko at first, she eventually warms up to the loner. *Masaki Yoshida - An apparently hostile delinquent with a love of cute and childish things who gradually befriended Tomoko after the school field trip to Kyōto where Tomoko infamously gropes her when trying to wake her. Lacking a filter, Tomoko can not seem to avoid the temptation to wind up Yoshida. In later chapters they develop both a tolerance and friendship. *Emiri Uchi - Famous for her face usually depicted as an emoji, hence Tomoko's private nickname "Emoji" for her, Uchi initially had little regard for Tomoko. Due to some comic misunderstandings, Uchi comes to believe that Tomoko is a lesbian who lusts after her. Uchi, despite inwardly denouncing Tomoko as "disgusting," curiously stalks Tomoko to the point of obsession. Over the course of the series into their third year of high school, Uchi's obsession has become a full crush on Tomoko that she does not wish to accept. For her part, Tomoko has no knowledge of this though certain friends of Uchi suspect the truth. *Asuka Katō - a pretty, popular, and so nice to others that Tomoko inwardly refers to her as the "Class Mom," Katō periodically takes an interest in Tomoko, such as helping her at a school party to applying make-up. To Tomoko's surprise, after Katō spends some time with Tomoko's group during a class trip, she invites Tomoko to visit a university with her in their third year. While Tomoko has by then improved her social anxiety, she finds being with Katō very stressful. Katō picks up on this, but she fears that Tomoko just does not want to be her friend. Tomoko confesses that she is a "huge pervert" who is not worthy to be Katō's friend. When Katō asks her what constitutes a "huge pervert," Tomoko lists some of her embarrassing moments and behavior. At the end, Katō merely asks, "is that all?" Gallery Official Novel Art.jpg|'Official Artwork' from the Novel Anthology Depicts Tomoko, Yuri, Kotomi, Akane, and Emiri The girl wearing glasses with her back turned is Yoshida [Citation Needed – Ed.] Category:Media